


A “Dead Broke” Horse

by WereAllDeadInDevilTown



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Beheaded Cousins, Character Study, Childhood Trauma, Depression, Dissociation, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flashbacks, Fluff, Horseback Riding, Horses, Mild Angst, Past Lives, Platonic Cleves & Kat, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Reincarnation, animal support
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 11:14:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24470044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WereAllDeadInDevilTown/pseuds/WereAllDeadInDevilTown
Summary: a “dead broke“ horse[ded br-oak hore-s] /𝘢𝘥𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦1. trained; a “dead broke horse” is a trained and obedient one.Katherine Howard is having a bad week, so Anna comes up with a plan to cheer her up which involves fawning over horses. Her plan moderately backfires.(Mainly fluff with a bit of angst in the middle, based off the adorable canon I have that the six queens must be obsessed with horses in the modern day.)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 56





	A “Dead Broke” Horse

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: I am by no means a speaker of either German nor French which are both used (seldom) in this oneshot! Please correct me if anything is incorrect, I know Google Translate isn’t always the most reliable! Thank you and enjoy! xx

Katherine Howard could definitively say she was having a pretty terrible week, and the funny thing was it was only Wednesday morning. Perhaps the worst part about the week so far was that she didn’t even have a good reason as to why it was so deplorable. Nothing especially bad had happened to her, no bittersweet or downright dreaded anniversary of sorts had crept up on her, and yet she felt like complete and utter shit (for lack of a better word). All the other queens had noticed of course, seeing as for better or for worse Kat was known to wear her heart on her sleeve. 

The poor girl had been pathetically lethargic all week, the most tell-tale sign that something with the youngest queen was wrong. She’d managed not to call in a single swing for any of their three performances despite her affliction, but she was noticeably off at rehearsals and during their shows. It probably went unnoticed to the audience members who were none the wiser, but it was obvious to the other five queens that Kat wasn’t her usual peppy self on stage, quick to all of her lines and on top of the choreo. The more doting queens had at first been very concerned, but Kat assured them nothing was wrong- nothing she could pin-point anyway.   
“I just...don’t feel well. I don’t know why.”, had been her honest response when accusatory and worried eyes analyzed her throughout the duration of Tuesday’s lunch.

This wasn’t an unbelievable explanation, in fact it was something that had happened once or twice before in the several months the six ex-wives had lived under the same roof. It had been a big to-do the first time it happened, Katherine suddenly being struck with a crippling bout of unexplainable sadness, ending in a huge breakdown when the poor younger queen felt guilty and helpless because she couldn’t articulate her feelings. The other queens, after finally believing her when she said her sadness really had nothing to do with repressed trauma or her past as it so often did, assured her that her emotions were valid of course and would pass, and that she didn’t need to apologize for them or try and hide them for fear of burdening them. 

Since then it had seemed like Kitty was a lot more articulate about when she was feeling sad for a specific reason, and when she was feeling sad just because she was...well, feeling sad. Even so, it naturally never made the queens very happy to hear or see that she was upset, especially because when it came to sadness such as this there was very little they could really do to help. Anne would amp up her antics and try extra hard to make her little cousin smile, Jane would make her favorite breakfasts every morning, and Catalina would propose family movie nights to try and lift Kat’s spirits. Sometimes these efforts proved effective and Katherine would spring back overnight, and sometimes they would prove futile. This particular week, little seemed to be helping perk up the sullen teen. 

By the time Kat turned up ten minutes late to breakfast that Wednesday morning, and uncharacteristically all but turned her nose up at the waffles Jane graced her with, (chocolate chip and topped with heaps of whipped cream and strawberries- her absolute favorite), claiming she wasn’t very hungry, Anna was fed up. Anne and Kat may have been close because they were cousins who acted more like cheeky sisters, but Katze was her best friend and dancing buddy of 500 years and she was starting to miss her. As she watched the paled girl sitting across from her poke and prod pitifully at her untouched breakfast, she began to hatch a plan. 

Today was a two show day, and it was surely going to be miserable for all involved given Kat’s state. Not that it was her fault by any means, Katherine couldn’t help it and the five women who cared for her felt no animosity over her unusual behavior just sadness and worry, but even so it wasn’t like either of those emotions made for a very good performance atmosphere either. Luckily, the group was always given the day after two show days off, so Thursday they would be free to do as they pleased. Although Kat probably had predetermined plans to sulk in her room until she had bedsores, Anna decided there at the breakfast table that she was going to plan an afternoon for the six of them. She couldn’t help but smirk as she took a sip of her coffee, noticing that it caught the eye of several other women at the table who she chose not to acknowledge. She would iron out all the details later tonight, but if this didn’t get Kitty to cheer up than nothing would. 

* * *

“WAKE UP LIEBLINGS!!”   
Perhaps Anna parading around the halls of the house and screaming at the top of her lungs at six in the morning wasn’t the most _tactful_ way to wake and round everybody up. But gosh darn if it wasn’t effective and put a smile on her face.   
“ÊTES-VOUS HORS DE VOTRE ESPRIT BAISE!?”   
Anna nearly cackled at the sight of Anne, perhaps the least early-rising of their bunch, stumbling down her attic staircase with a face blue from screaming and groaning in French. She was the first one out of her room, and Anna laughed even harder at the thought that that was probably the fastest Anne Boleyn had ever managed to get herself up and out of bed. 

Anne’s scowl didn’t disappear once she saw the German girl laughing, and the green-clad woman grumbled to herself further in French as slowly the other women of the house started to stir as well, most of which were equally angry looking as they emerged from their bed chambers. When Kat joined them last in the hallway, slightly startled and groggy with sleep, Anna finally began to give the fellow queens the explanation they were demanding from her for having woken them so early (and rudely) on their much needed day off. 

“Okay I know it’s early and you lahme Krücke are ready to plot my demise, BUT I have a huge day planned for us today. I wanted to tell you all early so you had time to get ready and get all your whines of protest out of the way, since I’m considerate like that. We leave at 10.”   
Anna turned to bound down the stairs, presumably to return back to her own bedroom near the kitchen, but several of the grumpy queens predictably lunged forward to prevent her from doing so. Lina caught her first, snagging the collar of her red nightshirt.   
“I’m sorry, what do you mean, ‘you have a day planned for us’? What sort of day? And how should we be expected to get ready?” 

Anna smiled cheekily at the threatening Spanish woman’s near panicked questions, revelling in the leverage she had over the rest of the house. Now were the times she really realized what sort of control freaks she truly lived with.   
“It’s a surprise chica, but it will be a fun one trust me.”   
Somehow all her housemates seemed unconvinced and simultaneously sighed.   
“What! I mean it!”   
Lina released her shirt, pursing her lips.   
“Tell me why I don’t believe you. Besides, what would possess you of all people to do something like this for the house?”   
  
Anna scoffed in false shock, clutching her chest.   
“Well excuse me, I wanted to plan something that would cheer up meine Katze!”   
At the mention of her German nickname Kat perked up, truthfully having otherwise not been paying full attention to the heated conversation. Anna had taken to calling her _Katze_ even in their past life, as it was the German word for “cat” and at the time they met the newest queen of England hadn’t known very much English. It just sort of stuck, even though Anna was now most definitely fluent in English. This in their new life eventually morphed into many of the bilingual queens calling her “cat” in their respective language, except for Annie who of course prefered to call her the French word for “kitty”- which was “minou”.   
  
Even though she pretended to be embarrassed by the names, truthfully they never failed to make her smile and they all knew it. Now though her face was reddened as all five sets of eyes turned on her, and the faces of the four previously quite ticked queens softened. If the outing was for Katherine, who they all knew wasn’t feeling much like herself this week, then they would attend without protest. Anna probably should’ve led with that. Kat gave them all a small, tight smile, and Anna, sensing her discomfort, continued to speak.   
“And plus, getting out of the house might do us _all_ some good.”   
Jane piped in, sounding only moderately distressed as she ran her fingers through wispy blonde bedhead. 

“Well fine, but you at least have to tell us what we need to wear for the outing.”   
Several queens groaned outwardly at Anna’s bemused response.   
“Just be ready to get dirty.” 

* * *

The six queens didn’t travel many places all together on their own accord. For example, if they were going to an interview or other event for the show then they would usually be riding in a different, private car with a chauffeur for protection reasons, and when they drove to the studio every day for rehearsal or a show Anna and Parr usually preferred to walk or run there separately. This was all great because as it was, they only had one car, and it was a Jeep with five seats. That’s how they found themselves the way they were now, four of them snuggled up in the back seat with Kat and Cathy sharing a seatbelt in the middle because they were the smallest. Anne and Catalina each had a cheek pressed to the cold glass of a car window because, much to their disdain, it was agreed that Jane should take the passenger seat since she was indisputably the best at reading directions and they _really_ did not want to get lost and be in this car any longer than was necessary. 

Anna of course was driving, since she was the one who knew where they were all going. The other queens had tried both discreetly and indiscreetly all morning to drag out of her their secret destination, but her lips stayed sealed. She knew it would be worth it to see the looks of shock and excitement on her friends otherwise still quite grumpy faces. Sure, the outing was for Kat, but that didn’t mean the other five queens, herself included, wouldn’t get a kick out of it.   
“Cathy, dear, stop reading in the car you’re going to get a headache and puke.”   
“Um am not, we’ve already been driving for like 45 minutes and I feel fine. Besides we’re almost there, right?”   
“Uhhhh, 10 more minutes.”   
“Good, because we’re officially in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere.”   
“Anne, language!” 

Kat leaned over Lina to look out the window, smiling apologetically at her as she did so. They really were out in the middle of nowhere she noticed, somewhere deep in the country and far from the usual suburbs and city that enveloped them nearer London. It was the rainy wet season in the UK, but even with all the mud and muck the scenery looked awfully pretty from where she was seated in their overcrowded Jeep. Even if the other queens were trying to act annoyed, she could feel the excitement radiating off them, and the wildflowers blurring past their windows lifted her spirits even if only a little bit. If Anna’s plan was nothing more than dumping them in the middle of a wet field under a partly cloudy sky, she didn’t really have many complaints. In this life and any other, Katherine Howard would almost always love the outdoors. 

But then it came into view, a white picket fence and a gigantic sign that read:  
“ _Apple Valley Ranch_ ”.   
In little red curly letters underneath that it said:   
“ _Equestrian Facility_ ”.   
Katherine’s heart nearly leapt out of her chest. Equestrian? _Horses._ Around her the other four queens must have all come to generally the same conclusion, because in a second the car was a cacophony of giddy laughter and squeals of excitement broken up only by boisterous laughs from Anna in the driver’s seat.

To many this probably would’ve seemed like a pretty odd display, six women all absolutely ecstatic over the idea of an afternoon with some horses. And it might’ve been indeed, if these six women hadn’t been reincarnated from the 15th century and were still acclimating to the modern world. Transitioning to their new lives was difficult, far more difficult than anyone outside or inside of their circle could ever fathom or know. The one thing that could be argued made it easier was clinging to anything vaguely familiar from all those years ago. In a world that was such a stark contrast to the one they were acclimated to, any familiarity brought them immense comfort. So whether it seemed silly or not, horses were something that had definitely been a crucial part of their lives back then. 

Horses were relied on for major transportation, trade, symbols of status, and were something which populated the grounds of England nearly as heavily as people did during their reign. More than that, horses had been their friends. All of the queens- even the least animal loving of them, could agree without protest that in a big fancy castle which felt cold and alone and empty most days the courtyard horses had been some of the only company a miserable queen could find. Horses reminded them of their past, but it also linked them to the present. They were a beacon that not all had been lost, some good things could stand the test of time and span centuries. At least, that’s how Kat thought of them. Maybe that last bit didn’t apply to everyone. 

But of course, being in London, the group of six didn’t see many horses gallivanting about the streets of the city. In fact, Katherine was pretty sure this would be her first time seeing a horse since her resurrection other than on TV in movies and shows. She felt incredibly sick to her stomach in the best way possible.   
“We’re going to get to...pet horses??””   
Kat tried to keep the excitement from her voice in case she was wrong, but you could hear in the words she was smiling despite herself. Anna beamed at her through the rearview mirror as she parked the car.   
“Not just pet horses babes, you think I’d drive you all this way just for that? We’re going to get to ride ‘em!”   
  
Katherine for the first time in a long while couldn’t possibly contain her elation.

* * *

“You can stroke her nose if you’d like darlin’, she won’t bite ya.”   
Kat jumped even just at the kind worker’s voice beside her, smiling embarrassedly at the flannel clad women. How long had she just been standing there frozen, staring at the giant beast she was nose to nose with inside the stall. More importantly, how long had the worker been watching her? She clasped her hands into tight fists at her side.   
“Sorry, I’m just...a little intimidated.”   
It wasn’t a total lie, in a lot of ways Katherine _was_ intimidated, but what had her rooted in place was something else. 

From the moment Kat entered the stable it was like she had been transported back in time. The clouds she felt like she’d been walking on when she first stepped out of the car evaporated and she thought she’d plummet right through the ground. It was everything about the place that reminded her of so long ago; the smell of hay, sweaty leather and fresh pine shavings, the sound of metal horseshoes clopping and soft whinnys, the way dappled sunlight filtered in softly through the slits in the wood of the barn’s walls. It was enthralling and terrifying all at once, and so when given the opportunity Katherine shut down to try and process it all. 

Kat looked around helplessly for any of the other girls, trying to keep it together for this random worker’s sake. She needed something or someone to ground herself, to remind herself that she was indisputably in the 21st century and not the 1500’s.   
“Here, take her reins.”   
The employee, who Kat hadn’t noticed till now had moved to stand beside her, thrust the leather piece attached to the horse’s head and mouth into her hands.   
“There’s no need to be scared, she’s big but this is probably the kindest horse we have here. And besides, I think she’s taken a liking to you!”   
  
That was the problem. With those big, brown, trusting eyes boring down at her the horse looked just like…   
“Kitty-Kat what’s the hold up, come out into the pasture with your horse the rest of us are already about to hop on!”   
Kat jumped at Anne’s voice as it echoed through the wide doors of the barn, and she turned to give her a pleading look that she hoped accurately conveyed how badly she needed the help of someone else. This horse was nudging her shoulder softly with her snout and nibbling at the fraying ends of her sleeve but she was utterly frozen where she stood trying hard to keep herself from unraveling. 

Something about her wide, panicked eyes must have cued Anne into the situation, because she made a signal to someone outside (probably the worker watching her horse for her) before hurrying into the barn to the back stall Kit was in.   
“What’s wrong cous?”   
Katherine was gripping the reins given to her so tightly she was worried she’d snap them. Perhaps noticing this, Anne carefully guided them out of her clammy hands, and gave the worker a look that she easily interpreted to mean they needed a moment. She smiled at them awkwardly before turning around and stepping a few feet away and pretended to sweep the floor still within earshot but far enough that Kat could open up. 

“Kitty communicate with me, you look glassy and far away, focus on me yeah?”   
Katherine tried to do as Anne asked, but her eyes kept drifting back to the horse towering over them. Even still, she forced her mouth to form words. It helped a little when Anne reached out and grabbed her hand, rubbing it gently with her thumb to remind her of where she was and who she was with.   
“I can’t...I can’t take my horse outside because I’m frozen, everytime I look at the horse I freeze up. I’m not scared but it’s like I forget where I am or… and I just...”   
  
Katherine trailed off awkwardly, irritated that she felt as though she couldn’t accurately express what she was experiencing. Anne seemed to understand all the same, nodding.   
“It’s taking you back to our past lives being here, is that it?”   
Katherine bit her lip and nodded her head, squeezing Anne’s hand. When Katherine spoke again it was in a half-whisper, almost like she was retelling a dream, which in a way she supposed she sort of was.   
“I loved horses as a little girl.”   
This was a gross understatement. 

Even before little Kat had ever owned horses of her own she’d been infatuated with them. Her big family could never afford to own any semblance of a farm themselves, especially after her mother’s death when she was five, but Kat would ogle at them when they went to the town centre in Lambeth each week for food anyway. It was worth the reprimanding to reach for their soft manes and wet noses, wanting so badly to know how it feels to be on top of one, in control. (Control was not a feeling Katherine Howard was very used to.) When Katherine turned seven and her father pawned her off to her Step Grandmother, the horses were probably the single only good thing about having to move. 

Being the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk meant she could afford a whole team of stallions and mares and their foals that Kat could never have fathomed. Knowing that she wanted badly to see them meant her grandmother ensured she never would, but before the world could really break her into submission Katherine was cheeky and bold enough to disobey. The first time she snuck into the barn was under the cover of night, so that none of the servants would see her, and she felt around in the dark until her hands landed on the soft fur of the giant beings she’d longed to be close to. From that moment on Katherine knew she would find her solace in the horses, any horses. 

Kat would laze around in the hay and think up names for the horses on days that felt as though they were dragging on and grandma just wanted her to make herself scarce. It didn’t take very long for Katherine to realize the servants wouldnt rat her out as long as she didn’t bother them, which they knew she wouldn’t given they could count on one hand the number of times they’d actually heard her speak. When Katherine came home from her first lesson with Maddox, (not music lesson, but _real_ “lesson”), the first place she’d run to was the big burgundy barn. She collapsed in a pile of hay and buried her face in the side of a horse, sobbing into her favorite mare, “Sybil”. Sybil stayed with her until night fell, only whinnying slightly under her breath as Katherine clung to her by the fistful for dear life. She thought she would die there at thirteen, in her grandmother’s smelly barn. 

But she didn’t, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it. When Katherine was informed that King Henry VIII wanted to appoint her as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anna Von Cleves, the saddest thing about having to leave her grandmother’s house was by far having to say goodbye to the horses. It was the only sad thing, in fact. They had such intelligence and depth in their eyes she hoped they understood her when she hugged them goodbye and apologized for leaving them with that wench she called family. She didn’t want any of the horses, especially her special Sybil, to feel like how she so often did in her youth, confused and abandoned. 

The Hampton Court Palace horses were much different. They lived in less of a barn or stable and more of a castle all on their own. Katherine’s grandmother had had wealth, but never like this. The horses which belonged to the king and queen of England dripped in jewels, their hair always prettily braided with flowers and ribbons. There weren’t working horses, these were show ponies, they were there for entertainment value. Katherine resonated with this feeling later during her reign, like a horse being carted around to look at and feel. They were accessories, and even with this seemingly incredible life she felt terribly for them. 

Katherine’s queen Anna proved to be exceptionally kind and low maintenance, so most days she had little to do as one of her ladies other than follow her around silently all day should she need something. Because of this there were several days Kat would sneak off to be with the horses, and Anna would seemingly not even notice or miss her absence. If she did, she never said anything to the youngest lady about it. Kat liked to sit in the darkness of their regal barn and finger through their braids in the dark, shaking out their tightly pulled manes. When she was queen she would decree that none of the palace horses have to wear such ridiculous hairstyles. 

And they didn’t, for the mere 18 months she was queen, that is. 

When Kat finally snapped back to reality she was sitting on the floor of the barn in the hay. How had she gotten on the floor?  
“Kat I’m going to take you back to the car, okay? I’ll sit with you if you want.”   
Katherine was startled by Anne’s voice, thick with worry. Her older cousin was looming over her with a hand rested on each of her shoulders, her eyebrows knitted with concern.   
“Are you back?”   
“...What happened?”   
  
Katherine rubbed her temples carefully, feeling as though she’d been hit even though she knew she hadn’t been.   
“I don’t know you just stopped talking and then sat down. You weren’t even panicking or anything like you sometimes do you were just sitting here silently, staring at the floor. Another minute and I would have picked you up and carried you to the car Kat. Are you alright?”   
Anne spoke so hurriedly she could tell she was freaked out and Katherine’s heart panged with guilt. Anna had set up this whole day just for her, to cheer her up, and here she was being an absolute brat about it, ruining the whole day.   
“I’m sorry-”   
  
Anne pulled her into a hug before she could continue, surely noticing the telltale sign that she was about to start crying from her trembling lip.   
“You don’t have to be sorry Kitty, I was just worried is all.”   
Katherine pulled away from Anne and took a deep breath, looking up at the horse she only then noticed was still hovering over them both. Maybe it was all in her head, but Kat thought she looked a lot like Sybil in that moment, not in her coloring or pattern, (her Sybil had been a light brown with white dapples, while this one was as black as night with gray dapples), but in her big, brown, comforting eyes. She looked like Sybil, but reborn.   
“I just got lost in my head. Horses remind me of a lot of parts in my life...my old life, I mean. I was just really overwhelmed seeing one, I thought I could handle it fine but I guess not so I just shut down like that. Thank you for staying with me, Annie.” 

Anne smiled sadly at her little cousin, seemingly so small with her knees pulled to her chest and hay stuck in her hair.   
“Always babes. Do you want to leave?”   
Katherine glanced up again at the horse over her.   
“Do you know what this horses’ name is?”   
Anne paused for a moment, confused, but then turned to look and see if there was a sign on her stable that might indicate it.   
“The plaque says ‘ _Sybil_ ’.”   
Kat couldn’t help but smile despite herself. She never abandoned her after all.   
“I think I’d like to stay.” 

* * *

“I don’t understand, we ride the horses _astride_ ? Like, with our legs split around the horse? As though we’re men?”   
The kindly equestrian trying to help all six women rangle their respective horses laughed confusedly, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand.   
“Yes? Have you lot never seen someone ride a horse before?”   
Jane scuffed her boots in the dirt awkwardly, idly stroking the nose of her horse with the hand that wasn’t holding her reins.   
“Well sure but, usually it’s the man who rides the horse straddled that way, and the woman rides passenger with their legs crossed to the side, no?”   
“Not if it isn’t the middle ages? We’re trying to help teach you to _ride_ the horses, not sit as a passenger on one of them ladies. We’re taking these horses by the reins, literally!” 

Katherine could feel the giddiness rise in her like a flock of little finches. She was really going to ride a horse. Looking around at the beaming faces of the other queens, she could tell they were feeling the same. Never in their past lives would this have been possible. So much had changed between now and then, but sometimes it was the littlest things that meant the most.   
“So go ahead and make sure your helmets are on snug ladies, while one of the other employees holds your horse still I’m going to explain to you how you mount your horse.” 

An hour later and all six queens were finally atop their horses, though four of the six of them were covered in cakey mud. Katherine’s shirt and pants were definitely ruined, and she would need a long bath when she got home, but looking at her laugh and squeal when her horse started to trot unprovoked Anna knew her plan had worked. The Katze she knew and loved was back.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this oneshot, I just couldn’t get this idea out of my head and knew I had to write it when I found no other one shots with the same idea! (: Please if you liked it let me know in the comments and by giving it Kudos, you guys are angels hopefully a multi chapter Six fic is soon to come! (picturing the tiny queens trying so hard to hop up on a giant horse is so hilarious i’m laughing)


End file.
